Het Plafond; a space for the arts and for culture in the home of Willem Besselink and Guus Vreeburg
Gedempte Zalmhaven 761, 3011 BT Rotterdam / NL
'Off the walls'
Dico Kruijsse
July 25 - August 29, 2009
Opening: Saturday July 25 2009, startting at 20.30 hrs - welcome to attend!
Come and have a peek at Het Plafond
Het Plafond has no regular opening hours, but opens up to the sidewalk
at Gedempte Zalmhaven through a huge window. Dico Kruijsse's installation ‘Off the Walls' will thus be visible day and
night.
Dico Kruijsse on 'Off the walls'
On June 15 2009, Kruijsse sent us an e-mail:
"i did make a small sketch for the project.
it's just a fast drawing made in Illustrator, but it does show what I'm intending to do. I want to use plasterboards (approx. 2 meters long and 60 centimetres wide). I will hang these off the ceiling into a multidirectional, sharply edged constellation. through it i want to weave nice wooden beams, maybe parquetry, that will both provide some stability to the installation as well as offering a visual counterpart to the plasterboards.
all in all it will be sort of a free, organic handling of materials, that normally are being used in a strict functional way."
Dico Kruijsse. Sketch 'Off the walls'
for Het Plafond, Rotterdam; June 2009
© Dico Kruijsse, Rotterdam; 2009
© Dico Kruijsse, Rotterdam; 2009
Dico Kruijsse – fine artist, hard at work
Dico Kruijsse (1988), a July 2009 graduate at the bachelor Fine Art of Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, defies popular notions – repeated only recently by a Dutch minister – that most fine artists don't work.
Kruijsse, for one, doesn't sit still, he does lots of work. His graduation in July 2009, when he was one of three nominees for the ‘Award on the Threshold for Fine Art 2009' of the City of Rotterdam, was no more than a moment in an ongoing process, not a break, let alone a black hole.
Apart from envisaging a project for Het Plafond, Kruijsse reinstalled his graduation project, hardly having it dismantled at WdKA's FIRST VIEW graduation show, at BLAAK10's ‘The Best of Graduation 2009'. Brightly coloured plastic kitchen sieves, stretches of green garden hose connected to black plastic taps, worn-out ventilators, sturdy wooden pallets and plates of crumbling Styrofoam - just ordinary materials that Kruijsse assembled into a monumental installation that doesn't ‘mean' anything but that rather makes many things visible.
Dico Kruijsse (1988), a July 2009 graduate at the bachelor Fine Art of Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, defies popular notions – repeated only recently by a Dutch minister – that most fine artists don't work.
Kruijsse, for one, doesn't sit still, he does lots of work. His graduation in July 2009, when he was one of three nominees for the ‘Award on the Threshold for Fine Art 2009' of the City of Rotterdam, was no more than a moment in an ongoing process, not a break, let alone a black hole.
Apart from envisaging a project for Het Plafond, Kruijsse reinstalled his graduation project, hardly having it dismantled at WdKA's FIRST VIEW graduation show, at BLAAK10's ‘The Best of Graduation 2009'. Brightly coloured plastic kitchen sieves, stretches of green garden hose connected to black plastic taps, worn-out ventilators, sturdy wooden pallets and plates of crumbling Styrofoam - just ordinary materials that Kruijsse assembled into a monumental installation that doesn't ‘mean' anything but that rather makes many things visible.
Dico Kruijsse. Graduation project. FIRST VIEW, LPII, June 2009
Dico Kruijsse. Graduation project. BEST OF GRADUTION 2009, BLAAK10, July 2009
Dico Kruijsse: ‘Off the Walls’ for Het Plafond
"[...] all in all it will be sort of a free, organic handling of materials, that normally are being used in a strict functional way."
Banal materials
For his installation 'Off the Walls', Kruijsse once again selected a pretty banal material: plasterboard. Plasterboard? It's definitely one of the most widely used materials in the construction industry - hiding some scruffy wall or hideous construction details - yet at the same time has no identity, always being hidden from view - being wallpapered, or covered with posh plasterwork. The boards themselves dare not show their faces, they hardly dare speak their names... they're really 'nothing'.
At Het Plafond these plasterboards come ‘off the walls’, and occupy centre stage. Individually - in stead of, like is normal, being composed into a single plane - they hang over one's head. In ever changing angles, at ever changing heights they inter-mingle. Left untreated, they are being surrounded by a weave of thin wooden boards, crisscrossing the space. Interconnecting the separate plasterboards, at the same time they become a 3D drawing. All in all it's not unlike gothic fan vaulting. It's visual spectacle, not hiding and denying the space's concrete ceiling, but rather un-covering it and offering novel angles by which to dis-cover it. And that's just one of the aims of Het Plafond ['The Ceiling'] as a projects space for artists and designers.
For his installation 'Off the Walls', Kruijsse once again selected a pretty banal material: plasterboard. Plasterboard? It's definitely one of the most widely used materials in the construction industry - hiding some scruffy wall or hideous construction details - yet at the same time has no identity, always being hidden from view - being wallpapered, or covered with posh plasterwork. The boards themselves dare not show their faces, they hardly dare speak their names... they're really 'nothing'.
At Het Plafond these plasterboards come ‘off the walls’, and occupy centre stage. Individually - in stead of, like is normal, being composed into a single plane - they hang over one's head. In ever changing angles, at ever changing heights they inter-mingle. Left untreated, they are being surrounded by a weave of thin wooden boards, crisscrossing the space. Interconnecting the separate plasterboards, at the same time they become a 3D drawing. All in all it's not unlike gothic fan vaulting. It's visual spectacle, not hiding and denying the space's concrete ceiling, but rather un-covering it and offering novel angles by which to dis-cover it. And that's just one of the aims of Het Plafond ['The Ceiling'] as a projects space for artists and designers.
Organic composition process
Kruijsse determined the final shape of the constellation of plasterboards and of the 3D 'dawing' in wood on the spot. Even though he made an inittial sketch, it did no more that demonstrate the principle of the work, plus the notion that this sharply edged vault would reach down low in the left back corner of the space. Kruijsse took all specific decisions as to the position of the the individual plasterboards an to the trajectories of the boards of the wood drawing during the process, using his artist's eye as a compass.It's all about visual composition, like an abstract painter will step back from his easel to assess the result of what he's just done and to determine the next gesture.There is no premeditated 'content' that needs to be communicated through proper imagery. Kruijsse adapted each single gesture to the given space itself and to the visual result for passers by on the sidewalk, peeking in. That makes 'Off the Walls' a site specific installation, in more ways than one.
Kruijsse determined the final shape of the constellation of plasterboards and of the 3D 'dawing' in wood on the spot. Even though he made an inittial sketch, it did no more that demonstrate the principle of the work, plus the notion that this sharply edged vault would reach down low in the left back corner of the space. Kruijsse took all specific decisions as to the position of the the individual plasterboards an to the trajectories of the boards of the wood drawing during the process, using his artist's eye as a compass.It's all about visual composition, like an abstract painter will step back from his easel to assess the result of what he's just done and to determine the next gesture.There is no premeditated 'content' that needs to be communicated through proper imagery. Kruijsse adapted each single gesture to the given space itself and to the visual result for passers by on the sidewalk, peeking in. That makes 'Off the Walls' a site specific installation, in more ways than one.
Dico Kruijsse. 'Off the Walls'. Het Plafond, July 2009 (foto's: Guus Vreeburg)
Dico Kruijsse – 'art without content'
Both his installation 'Off the Walls' for Het Plafond and his graduation project are examples of ‘art without content' and ‘imagery without meaning'. Kruijsses' fascination for these is a result of his disgust of contemporary visual culture, that's flooding us with imagery (posters, TV, internet) that are meant to communicate content or messages, that are often clichés or shallow. Kruijsse titled his graduation thesis ‘Art without content. What art can do without explicitly dealing with meaning-full issues'. No doubt, a title full of conviction
Both his installation 'Off the Walls' for Het Plafond and his graduation project are examples of ‘art without content' and ‘imagery without meaning'. Kruijsses' fascination for these is a result of his disgust of contemporary visual culture, that's flooding us with imagery (posters, TV, internet) that are meant to communicate content or messages, that are often clichés or shallow. Kruijsse titled his graduation thesis ‘Art without content. What art can do without explicitly dealing with meaning-full issues'. No doubt, a title full of conviction
Dico Kruijsse - ‘what you see is what you see’
"But what then does it mean?" Or, even worse, "What's the use of it?" - one can predict such questions being asked. In 1964, Minimal artist Frank Stella reacted to similar suspicious remarks by saying "What you see is what you see". Take a look yourself. There is no premeditated message, no storey, no ‘meaning'. The artist just places a ‘sign' - only he knows what it originates from - and leaves it up to us to make it meaning-full. Such signs, such images, rather than forcing themselves upon the viewer, offer liberty. They're not there to me merely consumed, they challenge to create yourself. ‘What you get is what you see'...
At the same time, Kruijsse’s installation for Het Plafond quite unintentionally offers an alternative for today's banal and ugly commercial ceiling systems - those killers of the rich tradition of ceiling art of days long gone by. Economic and easy-to-install as they may be, visually they are barren and ugly, 'neutral' at best...
“It can be done much better” -Kruijsse demonstrates it. He offer it ‘for all to see’ – the result of his creativity and of his time and energy.
Fine artists don't work? Come on, and take a look! ‘What you get is what you see’. Just only that makes fine artists like Dico Kruijsse priceless.
"But what then does it mean?" Or, even worse, "What's the use of it?" - one can predict such questions being asked. In 1964, Minimal artist Frank Stella reacted to similar suspicious remarks by saying "What you see is what you see". Take a look yourself. There is no premeditated message, no storey, no ‘meaning'. The artist just places a ‘sign' - only he knows what it originates from - and leaves it up to us to make it meaning-full. Such signs, such images, rather than forcing themselves upon the viewer, offer liberty. They're not there to me merely consumed, they challenge to create yourself. ‘What you get is what you see'...
At the same time, Kruijsse’s installation for Het Plafond quite unintentionally offers an alternative for today's banal and ugly commercial ceiling systems - those killers of the rich tradition of ceiling art of days long gone by. Economic and easy-to-install as they may be, visually they are barren and ugly, 'neutral' at best...
“It can be done much better” -Kruijsse demonstrates it. He offer it ‘for all to see’ – the result of his creativity and of his time and energy.
Fine artists don't work? Come on, and take a look! ‘What you get is what you see’. Just only that makes fine artists like Dico Kruijsse priceless.
© Guus Vreeburg/Het Plafond, Rotterdam; 090719
Dico Kruijsse. 'Off the Walls'. Het Plafond, July 2009 (photo's: Guus Vreeburg)
| Dico Kruijsse | |
| 1988 |
born in Schoonhoven/NL |
| 2005-2009 |
bachelor ‘Fine Art’; Willem de Kooning Academie, Rotterdam |
| 2008 |
group show ‘Craft Space-Meeting Place/Garbage Architecture’; The Alloy Factory, Shanghai/China |
| 2009 |
international workshop ‘Blooming Chongming’; WdKA en Tongji University, Shanghai/China |
| nominated for ‘WdKA Award on the Threshold for Fine Art 2009’ | |
| group show ‘FIRST VIEW’; LPII at Las Palmas Building, Rotterdam | |
| group show ‘BEST OF GRADUATION 2009’; BLAAK10, Rotterdam | |
| Dico Kruijsse lives and works in Rotterdam; more information at his blog | |
| 'Off the walls' | Programme |
| July 30, 2009 | start construction of installation - all actions & activities visible from the sidewalk |
| July 25, 2009 | |
| as of 20.30 | opening 'Off the Walls'; the artist will be present - you are welcome to attend! |
| 30 augustus | last day ‘Off the Walls’ at Het Plafond |
| last day ‘Best of Graduation 2009’ at BLAAK10 (Witte de Withstraat 7/a, | |
| 3012 BK Rotterdam), including Dico Kruijsse’s graduation project |
Information
Willem Besselink: +31 6 19 4343 41
Guus Vreeburg: +31 6 4720 4750